This invention relates to the bookmark function that is part of the standard Internet Browser equipped computer system and, in particular, to a multi-user Internet access and security system that enables a plurality of users to share the bookmarks capability of the Internet Browser on a single computer system without compromising the security of each user""s bookmark domain space.
It is a problem in the field of computer systems to enable a plurality of users to share a computer system without compromising the privacy of each user""s files, such as the bookmarks function that is part of the standard Internet Browser equipped computer system. In particular, the present implementation of the bookmark function is overworked and under equipped. Existing computer systems enable the user to organize bookmarks by categories or labels that are selected by the user. For multiple users who share the same computer system, all of the bookmarks not otherwise password protected are both known and available to all users. Thus, most bookmarks are not private or provided with any security. This limitation is also problematic when the bookmarks are provisioned with login and password data to automate the user""s access to a particular WEB site. Thereby, all users can access such an Internet Web site. This is especially relevant where the login and password script varies for the plurality of bookmarks that are stored for a particular user. The user then does not have to remember the various access scripts, since they are programmed into the computer system. The plurality of required scripts makes it attractive to provision the bookmarks with login and password scripts in such a configuration, the user simply clicks on the desired bookmark and the computer system automatically access the identified Internet WEB site without the need for further user input. Therefore, typically all bookmarks are both known and available to all users of the computer system, which is a problem.
Another bookmark capability is xe2x80x9cfavoritesxe2x80x9d which comprises a list of internet WEB sites populated by the user. These favorites entries are indicative of the past Internet WEB site accesses of the user and consist of the URL of the particular WEB site. The favorites list is a static listing in the presently available bookmarks features and the entries remain therein in perpetuity or until the user manually deletes the entry. The present utility of the bookmark in the favorites category, as evidenced by frequency of use, is never addressed in the existing systems.
The above-described problems are solved and a technical advance achieved by the present multi-user Internet access and security system which automates the management of the favorites category of bookmarks and also provides a password protection capability for all of the bookmarks that are stored by the computer system for each of the users of the computer system. In particular, the favorites category of bookmarks for each user is cache managed with the infrequently used bookmarks being cataloged as xe2x80x9cexpiredxe2x80x9d and then migrated to a xe2x80x9cformer favoritesxe2x80x9d category where they remain until the user deletes them or the system optionally automatically deletes them after a further predetermined period of inactivity. In this manner, the user can populate the favorites feature of the bookmarks, but does not have to further address the usefulness of these stored bookmarks, since the computer system automatically manages the cleanup of former favorite bookmarks.
The present multi-user Internet access and security system also provides password protection of the individual user""s bookmarks to prevent the other users from viewing or accessing the user""s bookmarks. This is advantageous when the bookmarks are provisioned with login and password data to automate the user""s access to a particular WEB site. This capability is especially relevant where the login and password script varies for the plurality of bookmarks that are stored for a particular user. The user then does not have to remember the various access scripts, since they are programmed into the computer system. The user, once password admitted, simply clicks on the desired bookmark and the computer system automatically access the identified Internet WEB site without the need for further user input.